This new VR webcam was developed specifically for, um, adult situations

The online adult-entertainment industry has quickly become overpopulated, with anyone with a webcam (and a mind to do so) able to start up their own private show channel — so how do you stand out from the crowd?

Swiss company Terpon have developed a 3D-VR webcam designed specifically for the online adult-entrainment industry, allowing for a deeper level of realism and interaction than ever before.

The 3D-VR units themselves look strikingly similar to EVE from Disney/Pixar’s Wall-E (which, I guess since Wall-E is set in the future, means that maybe this is where the first EVE units started?), as a way to make the cameras more companionable and give the performers more of an impression of their fans watching.

But behind the Disney-esque face is an impressive technical setup, with each unit featuring two high-quality cameras capable of filming a massive 200 degree field of view — I suppose the full 360 degrees wasn’t really necessary because, let’s be honest, not many viewers are exactly going to be looking behind themselves in that situation.

As for the recording capabilities, Terpon’s 3D-VR cameras are available at two levels, one capable of 3K recording, nicknamed ‘Hermes’, and the other capable of recording in full, glorious 4K, nicknamed ‘Artemis’.

To make matters easy for the users, all Hermes and Artemis webcams will be fully plug-and-play capable, allowing them to work on both PC and Mac.

Terpon’s chief executive officer, Jean-Claude Artonne, spoke to TechCrunch about his company’s push into the market, starting with 1000 of their beta-edition cameras having been sent out to “influential performers”.

While exclusively offering these 3D-VR webcams within the adult entertainment industry now, Artonne insists this is’t always going to be the case, with this initial distribution acting as the company’s proving ground to help develop the technology for a wider release.

After all, as Artonne points out, this would hardly be the first technology to have found its footing in the adult industry, with VHS cassettes, DVDs, and – as anyone who has seen Tropic Thunder could tell you – Blu-Ray discs all having hit their stride thanks to adult industry backing.

The Swiss startup will be renting out their devices rather than selling them, as a way to keep the cost low for their intended users, which also includes full, round-the-clock tech support, to help user encountering any, uh, sticky situations.

About the author

Tyler is currently based in Canberra, though he rejects this reality and enjoys immersing himself in games, technology, and comics. You can usually catch him trying to find that last shard/flag/feather.
Twitter: @FinalAlchemist